The Shoalhaven local government area remained a hotspot for people being charged over the Easter long weekend for breaching social distancing restrictions.
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In one incident, police fined five people in their 20s $1000 each for drinking together near a Nowra hotel.
A NSW police spokesman said officers were called to a hotel on Kinghorne Street in Nowra about 3.30am on Friday (April 10), after reports of a disturbance between a group of people which had spilled into the car park.
Police spoke to four men, aged 20, 21 and two aged 23, along with a 21-year-old woman, who denied there had been a fight.
While one of the men had booked a room at the hotel for supposed work purposes, the other four people had been invited over to drink.
All five people were issued $1000 Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs) under the Public Health Act charges.
At one stage over the weekend the Shoalhaven had the dubious honour of having more fines within the area than anywhere else in regional NSW.
Other infringements issued by South Coast Police in the local area included -
A 16-year-old boy from Tomerong, a 17-year-old boy from Nowra, a 25-year-old man from South Nowra, a 17-year-old boy from Cambewarra, an 18-year-old man from Sanctuary Point, were each issued with a $1000 PIN after being pulled over on the Princes Highway at Falls Creek, just after 1am on Saturday, April 11 by officers from Traffic and Highway Patrol Command.
Police allege all five had disregarded the Ministerial Direction by going camping together.
About 6pm on Thursday, April 9, officers from South Coast Police District attended a home on Leumeah Street, Sanctuary Point, following reports an apprehended violence order had been breached.
Police spoke to a 19-year-old man, who is not a resident of the home.
Inquiries revealed he had not breached an AVO, but his repeated attendance at the home was a breach of the Public Health Act.
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He was subsequently issued with a $1000 PIN before he returned home.
Other charges in the lead up to the long weekend included -
Officers attempted to pull over a vehicle on Eucalyptus Avenue, Worrigee, about 10pm on Tuesday, April 7, when the car stopped in a driveway and the 35-year-old male driver attempted to flee.
He was stopped and spoken to along with his 26-year-old female passenger.
Checks of the man's licence revealed he was disqualified from driving until March 2021.
During a subsequent search of the vehicle, police located suspected prohibited drugs and drug paraphernalia, which was seized for further examination.
The man was given a court attendance notice for driving while disqualified and both he and his female passenger received $1000 PINs.
Officers conducting a proactive patrol at Sanctuary Point at 10.50pm on Tuesday, April 7 when they observed a 20-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy approaching a home on Idlewild Avenue.
After officers spoke with the pair and advised them they were in breach of a ministerial direction, the man ran away.
During a subsequent search of the teen, police allegedly located and seized MDMA.
While this was occurring, the man returned to the street and refused to go home.
The teen was taken home and dealt with under the Young Offenders Act, while the man was issued with $1000 PIN.
Back on Sunday, April 5, four women found in a car in bushland at North Nowra at 2.15am were each fined $1000.
Officers were conducting patrols of the North Nowra area when they came across a vehicle parked near bushland.
As police approached, four women were seen in the vehicle, including three who were lying down in the backseat.
The women told police they had been at a party but had been asked to leave.